Shelly Sterling's Lawyer Fires Back Against Donald Sterling's New Lawsuit

by Zach Seemayer
10:00 PM PDT, July 22, 2014

David McNew/ Getty Images

On Tuesday, Clippers owner Donald Sterling filed a law suit, seeking damages from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, the Clippers team, and his wife Shelly Sterling. Now, Shelly Sterling is firing back with a response from her lawyer.

Attorney Pierce O'Donnell, Shelly Sterling's lawyer, released a statement today refuting the claims made in Donald Sterling's new suit.

"Donald's latest lawsuit is a frivolous, last ditch act of desperation by a delusional, bitter man. This action shows once more how obsessed he is with ruining a record-setting $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers--a sale that would solve the problems his racist rant started three months ago. As testimony established today, Head Coach Doc Rivers doesn't want to coach for him, the players don't want to play for him, the season ticket holders are about to bolt and the major sponsors aren't willing to spend another dime until there's a new owner. As Clippers CEO Dick Parsons made clear on the witness stand: Donald's continuing ownership will put the franchise into a 'death spiral.'"

According to an article by ESPN, Donald and Shelly have been estranged since December of 2012, when she kicked her husband of over 60 years out of the house when she caught him arguing with his mistress over the phone during a family Christmas dinner.

A week after that dinner, their son Scott died of a drug overdose, and it allegedly took Donald nearly 24 hours to reach out and console Shelly, further driving a wedge between them.

In early June, Donald Sterling agreed to drop his lawsuit and allow the sale of the Clippers to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. Six days later, Donald Sterling changed his mind and decided file another lawsuit against the NBA, seeking damages to the tune of $1 billion.